Smash, a TV Musical About Musicals, Will Become a Broadway Musical

The relentless hyperfans of Smash have finally willed an actual Broadway musical inspired by the series into reality. Yes, a stage production based on the NBC TV musical, which ran for two seasons before being canceled in 2013, is actually on the way, according to Variety.Steven Spielberg, who produced the original series, will produce the Broadway adaptation.

“I am personally thrilled to be a part of this musical and its road to Broadway,” Spielberg said in a statement to the outlet. “Smash is near and dear to my heart, and it seems fitting that a new musical inspired by what we did on the show would eventually come to the stage. I’m beyond thrilled to be working with this incredible creative team and my producing partners, who began the Smash journey with me over 10 years ago.”

Smash revolved around the making of a fictional Broadway show about the life of Marilyn Monroe, titled Bombshell.Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty played dueling hopefuls both vying to play Monroe. The cast was rounded out by Debra Messing playing the show’s writer and Anjelica Huston as the musical’s producer. The show, which got off to a promising start before eventually devolving into chaos both behind the scenes and in front of the camera, included cameos and supporting turns from stars like Uma Thurman and Nick Jonas.

All these years later, Smash still has a devoted cult fan base, egged on by McPhee, who is simply never not tweeting about Smash. The cast recently celebrated the series with Bombshell in Concert, a livestream of the sold-out 2015 cast performance of music from the series. The cast, including McPhee and Messing, also got together on Zoom for a post-concert discussion about the show, moderated by comedian and noted Smash super fan Julie Klausner.

The Broadway musical’s book will be cowritten by Tony winner Bob Martin (The Prom) and Tony nominee Rick Elice, per Variety. Emmy winner Joshua Bergasse, *Smash’s original choreographer, will also join the project. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, who penned several songs for the original series, including the beloved number “Let Me Be Your Star,” will provide the score. The musical does not currently have a release date. All Broadway theaters closed in mid-March due to the coronavirus, and will likely remain closed up until 2021.

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